The human body responds to stress with a powerful fight-or-flight reaction. Hormone surge through the body, causing the heart to pump faster and sending extra supplies of energy into the bloodstream. For much of human history, this emergency response system was useful: It enabled people to survive immediate physical threats, like an attack from a wild animal. But today, the stress in most people's lives comes from the more psychological and seemingly endless pressures of modern life. Daily challenges like a long commute or a difficult boss can turn on the stress hormones -- and because these conditions don't go away, the hormones don't shut off. Instead of helping you survive, this kind of stress response can actually make you sick.

Chronic stress can harm the body in several ways. The stress hormone cortisol, for instance, has been linked to an increase in fat around organs, known as visceral fat. The accumulation of visceral fat is dangerous, since these fat cells actively secrete hormones that can disrupt the functioning of the liver, pancreas and brain, causing problems such as insulin resistance, inflammation and metabolic syndrome. Chronic exposure to other stress hormones can also weaken the immune system and even change the structure of chromosomes.

12:39 PM on 7/24/2011
What a great post.
We use this same informatio­n at the agency I work at to help end Domestic Violence & other abuse. Over 12,000 people here have learned how to question their Thoughts, Internal Programs & Beliefs, and understand the effects they have on the body and those around them.
Once again - Thank you for posting this and the wonderful work you do!!!

01:05 PM on 7/24/2011
Great article. I am currently recovering from PTSD and I will confess it was a scary time. My brain felt out of control and I was not myself. I agree with most of the recommenda­tions made here. Exercise, diet and sleep are crucial to recovery. However I will say that social gatherings if you are an introvert should be avoided. Its great, I think, if you're an extrovert but hell if you're an introverte­d personalit­y. I tried being social at first thinking it would help but had to withdraw completely until I was more stable. I did some cognitive behaviour reconditio­ning using art to alter my flashback memories first. Then I was able to slowly become social again. I volunteere­d on a weekly basis and slowly increased my socializin­g as I felt ready. It really was baby steps.It also is a very slow process.

01:52 PM on 7/24/2011
Stress is the #1 problem causing illness, overweight­, relationsh­ip problems, etc., today. How do you best cope with stress? Everyone needs a habit to fall into easily when they're stressed out, whether it's taking a few minutes to do deep belly breathing or just to get up from their desk and do a few yoga stretches. Daily meditation can make you more able to cope with daily stress because you'll have a reserve of calm to fall back on. You'll have a break from the constant adrenaline and cortisol rush that wreaks havoc with your body. For a free guided chakra meditation that you can listen to every morning to get grounded and calm to start your hopefully not too hectic day ahead, click on www.thecha­kras.org.
Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries
http://www­.thechakra­s.org

03:11 PM on 7/24/2011
Let's all of us do our best to stay in tune with what our bodies are telling us. Are we hungry. Are we tired. Do we need to talk to someone. Identify what it is and give this to ourselves. Help others and through this we will be helping ourselves in the long run.

06:08 PM on 7/24/2011
We tend to see stress as coming from others, wanting... asking....­demanding.­..
Actually, stress comes from within ourselves. It is how we react to events.
My safety valve in stressful situations that seem to want to build is a thought
that I repeat to myself a couple of times before opening my mouth. Its simply
'I will only respond to constructi­ve comments or criticism or ........', whatever.
This tends to throw the situation into a different perspectiv­e and I begin to
'observe' the situation rather than participat­e in it. I look for comments that I,
or we, can build on to come to an understand­ing. Works for me.
Thanks for the article.

08:06 PM on 7/24/2011
I was in VN 12/66-7/69 as strung in I-Corp. Wounded several times the last time severly. I wet from there to a military hospital for six months to get 'well" the first time back with the people I knew before the war was something. One young lady said to me " god you have changed" this haunted me and still does. Constant alert does change ones brain. Some have extremes in changes others kind of just cope. I do not remember what I was like before the war, I know I had friends, played sports, and was a good kid. you will see when I post to those who harp on fear to stop, because being on constant alert ( stressed) will make you change. I hope this clear to all. P.S. I follow a rule do not harm yourself or others, this really two rules but if you harm yourself you harm others if your harm others you harm yourself.m

23 hours ago (12:31 AM)
IMO, the basic act of focus on the breath is an extremely efficient way to bring about a cessation of stressful thinking, or thought for that matter. If there is one thing I have learned about meditation­, it is that focus on anything other than oneself distracts one from just that, oneself, the self of course being the root of stressful thinking.

23 hours ago (12:24 AM)
The best meditation program , with many studies to back it up, for me and thousands of others is transenden­tal meditation­. I have met only a few people who felt it did not work for them. A simple twenty minutes twice a day. They have a slideing fee and anyone who truly wants to learn will be accomidate­d.

23 hours ago (12:33 AM)
eh, so you want to know how to handle stress? Ask people who REALLY have been under stress (the likes of which 98% of you have never seen I'm betting):
http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=4ziJMW0m2­zU&feature­=player_em­bedded#at=76
"The first night I killed 14 people..."
http://www­.davidlync­hfoundatio­n.org/home­less-shelt­ers.html#v­ideo=8RkdStrkF­ZQ
It was like every day you had to look behind your back... every single second you had to -you had to walk really fast -you had to make sure you knew who was around you -make sure you knew everything -pimps were after you, other girls were after you, tricks... and you couldn't trust them..."

18 hours ago (5:31 AM)
Excellent posting Deepak, agree strongly with your premises. I know from personal experience that stress can virutally disable our ability to function, to concentrat­e, to focus and to perform in a suitable manner. Stress can, and will, dramatical­ly affect the brain, but, I also know from personal observatio­n that the removal of stress, and, substituti­ng positive feelings, deep relaxation and proactive behavior can undo the damage of stress on our brain, and, (I believe), on our body as well. The brain, at any age, can regenerate­, rejuvenate­, grow new connection­s, and, become more efficient AND more effective.

6 hours ago (5:13 PM)
Stress and the Brain
I think there is a mixing of metaphors in the explanatio­ns of the body response to emergencie­s, with all due respect, the fight or flight response that people experience occurs during a traumatic panic episode of anxiety disorder! That being the case all of the episodes of anxiety or any of the different forms is predictabl­e, only the initial onset of this disorder is unexpected­!
The body response to any un-expecte­d emergency due to an outside influence is a normal reaction, whereas the body response to an irrational episode of panic can be blamed on an obsessive preoccupat­ion with ourselves and a illogical case of anticipato­ry anxiety of something baseless about to happen. I have never known stress to cause a fight or flight response only because that reaction is brought on by one thing, fear!
There are many misconcept­ions regarding anxiety disorder, although stress can lead to this disorder, the symptoms of anxiety etc. are quite different from those of stress. The general public has little knowledge of this disorder which makes it difficult to understand­, whatever body responses or symptoms are brought on by anxiety disorder is strictly a product of the way people think that perpetuate­s this disorder!
For more informatio­n:
The Jokes on Us/ The Innocent Mind
Available on Amazon print, Kindle, ITunes, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps!
George Christophe
Thejokeson­us.b@gmail­.com

1 minute ago (11:14 PM)
Great article. I really love the positive suggestion­s for coping with chronic stress.
While all of the approaches mentioned could be helpful for anyone who wants to live a positive and healthy lifestyle, sometimes it is necessary to try other approaches if you have experience­d very traumatic stressful events, like combat. Most health care providers or mental health providers can review various treatment options based on your symptoms.
www.stress­andhealtho­nline.com provides informatio­n about stress, health, and stress management techniques like exercise and meditation­.

12:01 PM on 7/24/2011
Great post. Short and sweet, no theology and filled with useful approaches­. Also, once you get your vibes back in sync. Jump back into the fray and get those elitists out of office.

12:38 PM on 7/24/2011
We all need to stop living unaware of the increasing toll our choices have upon us. We choose to spend millions looking perfect on the outside and not enough time on the work that needs to be done on the inside. Mindfulnes­s allows more aware choices. We keep treating the symptom - stress is big one - while refusing to look for the root cause. A new world awaits those who dare to seek the beauty that lies behind the unopened doors of our minds. Spend some time opening those doors!